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Swartz, 45, is an award-winning technology reporter who possesses an uncanny knack for unearthing the extraordinary, whether it be a key data point, a telling anecdote or a knowledgeable source. A 1983 graduate of San Jose State University, where he earned a journalism degree, Swartz has spent nearly two decades reporting on technology topics from Silicon Valley, dating back to his days at trade publications CommunicationsWeek and MacWEEK.

At CommunicationsWeek, he specialized in coverage of the emerging local-area networking (LAN) market and won accolades for his stories on IBM’s efforts to circumvent industry standards on LAN technology. Swartz moved on to become a reporter and editor at MacWEEK, a pioneering publication where he regularly broke stories on turmoil within Apple Computers’ executive ranks.

In addition, Swartz and his wife lived for 15 months in London, where he worked for a MacUser UK and freelanced for London dailies, such as the Times, Independent and Daily Telegraph. In 1996, the Chronicle brought him on board as a technology reporter, assigning Swartz to ramp up the paper’s coverage of Apple and an emerging phenomenon—the Internet. In 1997, the Chronicle nominated Swartz’s revelatory Internet stories for a Pulitzer Prize in Beat Reporting. Swartz is the author ofYoung Wealth: Trade secrets from teens who are changing American business (Rooftop Publishing/September 2006) and Zero Day Threat: The Shocking Truth of How Banks & Credit Bureaus Help Cybercrooks Steal Your Money." (Union Square Press/2008)